Cruise!

Christmas for our family this year was a cruise to Belize and Cozumel.  It was quite the adventure!  We had never cruised before so we were trying it on for size.  I think everyone would agree it is quite delightful.  Robb and I envision a different experience if we go on our own one day but the kids loved it and we would definitely do it again.  My brother and his family and my sister and long lost cousin went too.

We flew in to Ft. Lauderdale a couple of days early and spent 2 days in Florida.  We snapped these next few pictures at Ft. Lauderdale Beach.  We weren't able to really get in the water because the purple flag was up which meant hazardous sea life.  There were some Portuguese Man o War Jellyfish swimming in the surf and we saw them all over.  We steered clear though and still were able to dabble in the water a bit.

Saturday afternoon we were able to get on the ship and get our bearings a bit.  We were on Liberty of the Seas by  Royal Caribbean which is the 2nd largest ship on the planet!  (Oasis of the Seas by Royal Caribbean is the 1st).  It was enormous!  It has a huge promenade down the middle with restaurants and shops, 14 floors, a massive pool deck with 3 pools, 7 hot tubs, a massive movie screen to watch movies under the stars, a surf machine, miniature golf, climbing wall, and much more.  We had two staterooms that connected.  The kids loved the bunk beds that came out of the ceiling! We got the kids registered at the Adventure (kids') Club (except Avery, she was me and Robb's little buddy the whole time) and got ready to leave port.

One of Avery's favorites spots to stand...our window in our stateroom.

A view of the mini golf and the rock wall.

We were about an hour late leaving port and Zack was counting down the minutes.  Loved this impatient picture of Zack pointing at his watch.  He is SO his mother's son.

We had to get this pic of the Oasis (biggest ship on earth) behind us leaving port.

This is the three story dining room we ate in every night.  We loved our waiter and quizzed him with tons of questions all of which he could answer!  Our ship cost $800 million dollars to make.  Royal Caribbean makes their ships in Finland and they are made to be able to tip 45 degrees on their side and still self correct themselves.  Scary!  Deepak (our waiter) ROCKED and was a fountain of knowledge. :)

Our first port was Belize.  Robb and my (newly scuba certified) sister Mel went scuba diving.  They went to the 4th best reef in the world to scuba.  Robb said it was the best of any place he has dived.  85 foot visibility and they saw TONS of stuff.  I have hundreds of pics but here are just a couple.

Mel on her first real dive!

Since Robb had my camera 100 ft. down under the ocean, I didn't get any pics of our excursion.  I took the kids with my brother's family to Bannister Island which is a private island where we just had a beach break and chilled out.

Loved this gorgeous Christmas tree on the promenade in the ship!

Our 2nd port was Cozumel.  Apparently I was in a fog after our "barf boat" ferry ride into Playa del Carmen (long story that you'll be thankful I don't elaborate on) that I spaced taking many pics at Xel-ha.  It was this amazing eco-park with a huge lagoon where we snorkeled and floated the river.  There was so much more to do like cliff jump, swim with dolphins, zip line and more.  I'd LOVE to go there again w/o kids. :)

We did a little shopping in Cozumel and headed back to the ship.  Ours is on the left.

This shows just how enormous the ships are.  Loved Bryce with his new $1 green maraca. :)

Loved this pic of Aves!

Last day on the ship, the kids met Puss in Boots and saw the movie in 3D.

Our last dinner on the boat.

I just had to stick these in.  Mel loves to sneak into pictures without the kids knowing it and I grabbed quite a few this trip!